Federal Oil and Gas Sale Scheduled for February 3, 2009

An oral oil and gas lease auction sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wyoming State Office will be held Tuesday, February 3, 2009, at the Holiday Inn in Cheyenne. Doors open at 7 a.m. with the auction beginning at 8 a.m. BLM will offer a total of 172,950.130 acres in 145 parcels in Wyoming.

"Mineral resources on public lands in Wyoming play a key role in meeting energy demands in the Rocky Mountain region. With one-third of the nation's oil and gas production coming from public lands, oil and gas leasing helps increase domestic production of clean-burning natural gas and other mineral resources," said BLM Wyoming State Director Don Simpson.

Oil and gas operations on BLM-administered public lands and federal mineral estate in Wyoming produced 28,556,565 barrels of oil and 1.6 billion cubic feet of gas in FY 2008. About 64 percent of the homes in Wyoming are heated with natural gas.

Auction rules call for a $2 per acre minimum bid in bonuses on any parcel. This means a buyer will pay the bid price for the right to obtain the federal lease, in addition to a standard $1.50 per acre rental on the lease. BLM will also charge winning bidders $140 per parcel to help cover administrative costs. If the lease becomes producing, the federal government will collect a royalty on production. Last year, total mineral royalties of nearly $1.5 billion were collected and nearly half was disbursed to the State of Wyoming.

Leases are for a primary term of ten years, and will be continued as long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities.

BLM has mailed out a notice of sale to potential federal oil and gas lease bidders. It contains a complete list of the parcels, conditions of the sale and lease stipulations. Copies will be available at the sale, and can be purchased for $5 from the State Office at 5353 Yellowstone Road in Cheyenne, or by writing: BLM, Attn: Copy Work, P.O. Box 1828, Cheyenne, Wyo. 82003. Copies are also available for purchase from each BLM field office in Wyoming.

The BLM manages more land - 258 million acres - than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western States, including Alaska. The Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.